Cornish gem: The Cove, Maenporth

It's 730am and I'm still lying in bed. I have a crumbed plate hiding among the covers from this morning's toast and an empty tea mug on the bedside table. Normally I've already done an hour's work by now so it's a little strange to be going in later this week. Normally over Christmas and New Year I do a couple of days on, a couple of days off. But this year (with a little help of the leave angel) I managed to get a whole 10 days off in a row and it felt like the Christmas holidays I used to get at school.

Yesterday we had that feeling of dread knowing it was the last day of the holidays and went for a walk at Maenporth near Falmouth. It was a fantastic day, warm and still and we decided to have an last minute lunch at The Cove. It's not the first time I've been there. My housemate and I used to drive down there on summer evenings and sit in the sun drinking a gin and tonic. The Cove sits at the top of the beach and it's difficult to be given a bad table as most look across the bay. When eating there the best thing to go for is that tapas. It's not the usual tapas you get at most places but often just smaller versions of their main meals. It means you get to try lots of the menu.

We chose three dishes and some bread. This was an ideal amount for lunch. (Although as I am greedy and my stomach has had a hardcore workout over Christmas, I could have quite easily eaten four.) The first dish was Cornish pork belly with tomatoes and chorizo stew. This was the shining light, smokey and spicy with pork that fell apart on your fork.

You can't visit the cove without eating the fish dishes and the seafood thai green curry was delicious. The fat scallops held their own among the coconut sauce. The bowl was almost licked clean.

Lastly we ate fat king prawns with a really garlicky aioli which we dunked our bread into to finish the meal.

The Cove isn't expensive. The tapas and drinks came to about £20 and the views are worth that alone.

The Cove, Maenporth Beach, Falmouth, TR11 5HN (01326 251136)